Posted on 12/22/2013 10:58:51 AM PST by Jim Robinson
The business of treating patients via telehealth in the U.S. will dramatically increase to nearly $2 billion in revenue within five years due to a confluence of events in the health care industry from doctor shortages to provider payment changes under the Affordable Care Act.
A new report from information and analytics firm IHS says revenue expansion of the teleheath space which allows doctors and other providers to monitor patients remotely via various devices, computers and related digital technology will grow to $2.2 billion in 2018 in the U.S. from $240 million this year.
The trend toward telehealth will be driven by employers, private insurers and the Affordable Care Act, which makes doctors and hospitals more accountable by moving medical care providers away from fee-for-service medicine where they are paid based on volume of services to reimbursement based on the value of care they provide. This trend often uses doctors as a quarterback of sorts in concert with nurses and other allied health professionals to keep patients out of the hospital where care is more expensive.
The majority of these patients are diagnosed with cardiovascular diseases, pulmonary diseases and diabetes and most of them are enrolled in post-discharge services of an average of 30-90 days, said Roeen Roashan, IHS analyst for consumer medical devices and digital health.
This will increase the patient volume toward these services to more than 3.2 million patients in 2018 from less than 250 million this year. Meanwhile, the value of the U.S. telehealth market will reach $1.9 billion in 2018 compared to about $230 million today, IHS Roashan said. Thats a cumulative annual growth rate of more than 56 percent.
(Excerpt) Read more at forbes.com ...
I’m actually in favor of more nurse practitioners. I think the vast majority of people now seeing a doctor would be just as well served by a practitioner. (So long as the practitioner realized when they were over their head.)
I agree, General - but I fear these Commies will go after private sector PAs and even RNs with the same zealotry once we have no actual DOCTORS left!
” based on the value of care they provide”
By the same team that defined love, ethics in politics, what makes a good parent and the good old college try.
My daughter has not yet loost her insurance (prolly next year), but her doctor called last week to inform her that he is starting a new SMALLER practice and offered her a chance to remain a patient with better service for $150 per month in a ddition to her insurance. The doctor will cease accepting Medicare/Medicaid/Medical, etc.
Glad to hear it. It’s not like you have a choice.
I need you to please turn your head to left and cough Dave.
Adam Jackson and former Stanford physician and White House fellow Dr. Pat Basu want to help modernize healthcare by bringing the house call back mobile-style. To do that, today, theyre officially launching Doctor On Demand, a service that aims to connect consumers to a licensed U.S. physician via app an on iPhone, Android or tablet from anywhere.
This is may be more efficient, insofar as lowering costs per person, but for the individual, the quality of medical care will decline.
It might sound quaint, but when you have a doctor that knows about your personal and health history, and actually cares about your well being as a human being, you’re going to have better service and better outcomes. That doctor will respond when you have an unusual headache on the weekend that might require an MRI. That doctor will tell you which surgeons to use and those to avoid. That doctor will give you honest advice on medications and nutritional strategies instead of unconditionally pushing big pharma’s new pills or only those generics on the insurance company list.
The masses can expect group visits, tele-visits, filling out lots of forms on computer kiosks, and computer generated reminder e-mails. Providers will be paid as employees of large hospital groups run by administrators. Administrators will respond to the whims and dictates of politicians and bureaucrats. Outcomes will be great because the same people that have a vested interest in making the system work (the government), will also be the ones measuring the outcomes (the government).
Meanwhile, medicine for the masses will really
result in lower quality. If it were so great, the elites- the politicians, crony capitalists etc., would be signing up for it now.
Jim, God Bless you. You personally can understand what I am about to say. I’ve had 3 joint replacements in 3 years. At the absolute best Surgical Hospital here in Orlando no less. After the 3rd shift would come in, it would take a Surgical Nurse on call to straighten out their mishaps. Horrors after 1:00 A.M. will only increase! I caught sepsis from their escapades and lived! Many will die, soon.
I think this means that ObamaCare patients will have a high school dropout taking their temperature and blood pressure (if they are not doing it themselves) while a call center physician in India or Pakistan handles the actual medicine. I thank God that I don’t have to suffer under Obama’s signature legislation.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.